Wikipedia Offline via Packet Radio – LinBPQ WikiApp

This small application allows you to access Wikipedia over a packet radio network – entirely offline! The LinBPQ WikiApp lets you query a locally hosted Wikipedia instance through a simple Telnet port within a LinBPQ node.

It’s based on a combination of LinBPQ, Kiwix, and a systemd socket service. Perfect for emergency communication, education, or just technical experimentation.

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1. Download a Wikipedia ZIM file

wget https://ftp.fau.de/kiwix/zim/wikipedia/wikipedia_en_all_mini_2025-06.zim

## 2. Install Kiwix tools

```bash
apt install kiwix-tools

3. Start the Kiwix server

kiwix-serve -d -p 8080 wikipedia_en_all_mini_2025-06.zim

4. Set up the systemd service

Edit the wiki@.service file and make sure it knows the path to wiki.py.

Then copy both wiki.socket and wiki@.service to /etc/systemd/system and enable the socket:

systemctl enable wiki.socket

5. Configure LinBPQ

First, define a Telnet port:

PORT
   PORTNUM=4
   ID=Telnet
   DRIVER=Telnet
   CONFIG
      CMDPORT=63001
ENDPORT

Important: The port number (CMDPORT) must match the setting in wiki.socket.

Now, integrate the Wiki application:

APPLICATION 3,WIKI,C 1 HOST 0 NOCALL K S

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Conclusion

With this solution, the entire Wikipedia article base can be queried offline via packet radio – a fascinating project showing how modern content can remain accessible even without the internet. Ideal for emergency communication scenarios or technically curious amateur radio operators.

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You can find the full source code and further documentation on GitHub: ➡ GitHub Repository: andreaspeters/linbpq-apps-wiki